Cats not only require physical needs such food, water and shelter, they also require emotional necessities such as companionship, love and entertainment. Automated food feeders and full water bowls can provide the physical needs at all times even when the owner is not present, however the emotional needs are hard to provide if the owner is away at work or on a weekend vacation. These emotional needs are even more critical for young kittens who may find themselves alone for the first time in their lives. This insecurity can sometimes lead to destructive habits such as scratching.
Several attempts have been made in the past to create a device that automatically nurtures a small pet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,422 in the name of Della Vecchia discloses a mechanical device used to scratch and stroke household pets upon demand. A base is fastenable on a vertical structural element, and mounts a petting arm for vertically adjustable and foldable positioning perpendicularly thereto. The petting arm is a compound member interconnected in its medial part by a motivating mechanism that moves the outer portion, carrying a hand-like petting element in a petting and stroking fashion. The motivating mechanism may be electrically activated, and may include an electronic eye or position sensitive switch to sense pet position to institute petting upon pet demand. Vertical adjustment of the petting arm on the base allows use of the device with various sized animals. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not designed to provide a human-like petting motion for the pet during operation of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,462 in the name of Gaves discloses an activity center for cats which includes a plurality of stations for grooming, massaging and stimulating the animal. The stations have wave-shaped fins, comb-like tines and raised pads. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not to designed to automatically sense when a pet is ready to be groomed and petted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,440 in the name of Bell describes a self-grooming aid for animals, whereby they can brush their fur or hair and can exercise or sharpen their claws. Such an animal can stand at least partly on a base which is adapted to be clawed and with head or body at the level of a brush adapted to be rubbed. The brush is removable for cleaning or manually brushing the animal, and the mat is removable for replacement when thoroughly clawed. Unfortunately, this prior art example does not automatically respond to an animal and requires a user pet to manually groom themselves.
None of the prior art particularly describes an apparatus having human finger-like appendages that automatically scratch a house pet, specifically a cat, when the pet becomes near to the apparatus. Accordingly, there is a need for a means by which cats can be provided entertainment, companionship and solace when the owner is not present or available. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a device that is convenient and easy to use, and lightweight yet durable in design. The automated pet scratching device includes finger-like protrusions that simulate the scratching motions of real fingers. The device further is adjustable to pets of varying sizes. The present invention is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.